AoNZ: this is your public service announcement in an election year that you should absolutely be following @musicalchairs.bsky.social if you want to know how the economy actually works, and seeing through the nonsense both major parties preach #nzpol

Back on track #nzpol

I sent a letter to Minister Willis about some banking competition issues, and the auto-reply contained this gem: 'If you are concerned about someone's wellbeing, you can call your local mental health crisis team. A full list of numbers is available here' #nzpol

It started with the orcas, but now the dogs are joining in

Congratulations to @domesticanimal.bsky.social for winning 2026 Cartoonist of the year (used to be the Voyager Award). Bloody brilliant news and well deserved. Look forward for to seeing more wonderful creations this year ❤️❤️❤️

I can’t help thinking that political speech writing is probably an ideal task for AI, given the speeches seem to use a lot of words to say not terribly much - which seems a perfect application of the technology #nzpol

Turning the corner #NZpol #sketch #cartoon

This - particularly the ICAC idea #nzpol

Dr David Haugh from the OECD was superb at the Commerce Commission conference on Thursday - he’ll be well worth a watch #nzpol

Goodness, I never realised that handing out tax cuts to tobacco companies and the ultra-rich was so critical to our national strategic interests #nzpol www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361...

We lost Douglas Adams 25 years ago today. This has made a lot of people very sad and has been widely regarded as a bad move.

We certainly have the very best government that money can buy #nzpol

And just for a bit of Enhanced Geekery™ ... irrespective of what Bish's bean-counting review comes up with, the business case for CRL absolutely stacks up if we use a sensible approach to the discount rate for the project #nzpol

This is the best possible illustration of the fact that the National Party just doesn’t understand the concept of investment. In their dumb-assed “household budget” view, all money out the door is just spending, and all spending is bad #nzpol

In other news, the New Zealand government heads in entirely the opposite direction and plans for an LNG terminal in the midst of an energy crisis #nzpol

Always do what the Auntie tells you, even if they’re not your Auntie #NewZealandValues

And this is the whole problem with monetarism. Pulling money out of households already struggling with cost of living issues will do nothing to reduce inflation due to the oil crisis, but will emphatically kill the economy and send unemployment soaring #nzpol

The economists are wrong about that. If they think unemployment is only going to stay at this level as oil gets scarce and the RBNZ puts the boot into the economy with interest rate rises, they’re entirely mistaken #nzpol

Well, isn't this excellent news. Banker, rhymes with ... #nzpol www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

For some edge-case definitions of "working" and "well", I'm sure he's correct #nzpol

Alternative headline: Petty racism decides names of Auckland train lines And hopefully headline 2: Political parties announce te reo naming of train lines to proceed following November election #nzpol

It’s worth remembering that in the 2017 election where Act campaigned on its truly toxic economic policy, it got only 0.3% of the party vote. The only thing that gets it above the 5% threshold is the added racism #nzpol

This is cool, but I’m definitely waiting for the @kiwiev.bsky.social combined EV/movie review

When I’m elected Emperor of AoNZ there’ll be a law that allows you to go to work hammered or off your face if you’ve been having a stressful time, and you can’t be fired because anyone plastered or high can’t be responsible for their actions #nzpol

I'm looking at the article about how Kiwis are suddenly using about $1 billion more in cash, and I'm pondering the huge spike in drug use across the country, and correlation is not causation, but surely the idea must have crossed a few minds at RBNZ #nzpol www.thepost.co.nz/business/360...

This is a regular reminder that - according to IRD - the richest 311 families in this country who control around $85 billion in combined assets (about $276 million each) pay an effective tax rate of just 9%. And after the IRD report came out in 2023, Nicola Willis gave them a tax cut #nzpol

Wait … didn’t the approval of too many low equity loans in a falling housing market lead to the subprime meltdown and the global financial crisis? Asking for a friend #nzpol

One thing that's interesting about the commentary is the idea that the economy was about to turn the corner and propel us all into the sunlit uplands of robust growth in January, until the Iran war derailed it. Dear reader, the economy was not about to turn any corner but downwards #nzpol

In today’s NZ Herald

Fatih Birol tells it the way it is - fossil fuels are too unreliable and too expensive, and the future lies in renewables and electrification #nzpol www.theguardian.com/environment/...

China is installing the wind and solar equivalent of five large nuclear power stations per week www.abc.net.au/news/science...

We know he’s genuinely and irrevocably embattled when it’s the headline in the international media #nzpol

National in the Luxon years is the dog that caught the car. They were chasing it but have no idea what to do with it.

If the oil crisis turns into a full blown food crisis and national disaster in the next few months, the National Party will be wiped out at the next election and will never recover. So yeah, this might be a good time to get out #nzpol

If this is the case, it’s a huge victory for the hard-working people at MPI #nzpol

Let’s just save ourselves the effort and not bother protecting bitcoin at all

@markmitchellmp.bsky.social told @rnz.co.nz.web.brid.gy 'we've always had [weather events], it's just that we're getting better at identifying them' - @nathansurendran.bsky.social made this 'States of Emergency since 2000' chart from CD data (excl. quakes): www.civildefence.govt.nz/emergency-ev...

Worth contrasting this sensible article with the 'we're going to have to raise interest rates' ghouls that dominate the media. www.thepost.co.nz/business/360...

Please note the use of the word “embattled”. The official Aotearoa Embattled PM Timer is now active #nzpol

This isn’t a valuation test for Anthropic, this is an IQ test for VCs

JD Vance trying to explain theology to the Pope is possibly the highest level of reply guy cringe ever achieved by any human, ever.

Man Who Threw Molotov Cocktail At Sam Altman’s Home Claims He Was Following ChatGPT Recipe For Risotto https://theonion.com/man-who-threw-molotov-cocktail-at-sam-altmans-home-claims-he-was-following-chatgpt-recipe-for-risotto/

There are a growing number of people looking at the situation in the Middle East and staring at our diesel supply and the apparent indifference of our government, and wondering: why aren’t they doing more? And there’s a straightforward but unhappy answer to that question. A 🧵 #nzpol

This is gold #nzpol

The alarming part of this isn’t the outright graft, but the Saudis misapprehension that Kushner is some approximation of a top negotiator

Translation: “I am a petulant wee child who demands that I get my way in every circumstance, because my ability to understand the perspectives of other people was surgically removed at birth”

The issue is that one side of the negotiations is driven by irrational religious nutcases, and the other side of the negotiations is driven by Iran

The National Party: you’re on your own. Māoridom: our Marae are open. This year, vote for Te Tiriti #nzpol

The only chart that matters every day for fuel prices for the foreseeable future.

In a lot of ways this is just symbolism, but I think it's vitally important symbolism nonetheless - taking these stands follows in the tradition of our nuclear free declaration, for instance. Thank you for putting the motion, Julie #nzpol